Spofford fire guts family home

By MEGHAN PIERCEUnion Leader Correspondent

SPOFFORD - A Rosewood Lane home was gutted by a fire early Tuesday morning, displacing a family of three.Firefighters responded to 54 Rosewood Lane at 4:09 a.m., for a report of smoke from the basement, Fire Chief Gordon Rudolph said."Upon arrival, heavy smoke and fire was coming from the basement and started coming through the floor into the first story.Then flames went up a wall and into the attic," he said.Keene firefighters were the first on the scene and knocked back the flames, containing the blaze to the fully involved basement."There was a pretty good-size fire in the attic, but we were able to reach that before it reached the roof," Rudolph said.More than 50 firefighters from 13 area fire departments battled the blaze for four hours, he said. "It took a full four hours to put the fire out."Five of the 13 departments were dedicated to transporting water to the scene of the fire since the nearest water source was about a mile away.The manpower was needed, but not necessarily all of the equipment, Rudolph said. Because the house is located on a one-lane dirt road, the multiple fire engines at the scene had to be parked in other driveways to keep the road clear for water tankers coming and going."We made a lot of people late for work this morning with a fire truck in their driveway," Rudolph said.Rudolph said the house was gutted by the fire. "Structurally the house is fine, but the contents of the house are gone," he said.Firefighters also had to tear down parts of the walls and ceiling to reach the fire as well, he said.A couple and their 10-year-old son live in the home. The Red Cross was contacted and able to put the family up, but the family decided to stay with a neighbor instead, Rudolph said.Right now the basement fire is suspected to be electrical.Rudolph said he doesn't suspect anything suspicious, but he has called in the State Fire Marshal's office to investigate because of the extent of the fire.

If you have a bad case of cabin fever, we've searched for a cure across the state from Jackson to Keene and everywhere in between. So shake off the blues with our picks of the Top 10 Things to Do in...